The forests of the Terai in Nepal are great for wildlife. After trekking in the mountains for a few weeks the extra oxygen in the lowlands makes walking and carrying heavy cameras much easier allowing you to be out for longer.
The macaques of the Indian Subcontinent are a curious bunch. Spend enough time around them and you can see multiple personalities. This guy was one moment curious and outgoing and the next shy and timid.
Younger monkeys aren't always sure about what is happening and just like humans look to their peers to find out what to do rather than looking straight at the strange person photographing them.
Monkeys are very curious and almost always check you out while you photograph them. However they do like their security and stay high up or somewhere relatively safe.
The black-faced langur is very common in India. I went on a tiger safari but came back with way more photos of monkeys than of the big cats. These guys are especially photogenic in the last of the evening light when they gather in family groups to socialise.
I am not a fan of anthropomorising in general but when it comes to monkeys it is so easy to see human emotions and feelings in them.
It is probably scary for most people when a 120 kg Gorilla charges at you. However for those who have a guide with them it is doubly scary as those guides insist on standing their ground. And since we had the cameras and were standing in front our guides put their hands on our shoulders to make sure we didn't move. This adolescent was just trying to show off though, like any human of an equivalent age. Then he sat back in the bamboo bushes for a nice portrait.
The big silverback of the Nkoringo group of gorillas really is a relaxed type of guy. He showed mild interest when we turned up but then just enjoyed our company for the hour permitted to gorilla trackers in Uganda.
Fota Wildlife park in Cork is dedicated to breeding endangered species. Since they have had a lot of success with cheetahs they are moving out to try and preserve other endangered animals. While visiting I met this black spider monkey who doesn't look to be too enthralled by his life. Is life in captivity worth it to save a species?
Spending time with spider monkeys in the jungle is a joy. They are just such curious creatures and if you aren't threatening will just watch you while you eat.
Leopards are probably the most difficult to see of the big cats. They hide and camouflage themselves so well. However given the warning calls of the monkeys and deer we were led to this beautiful specimen hiding carefully in the bush.
The Kori Bustard is the largest flying bird in Africa. However they do like to stroll as well and are often seen strutting around the savanna. I am not sure I managed to see one flying, never mind get a shot of them.
The Kori Bustard is the largest flying bird in Africa. However they do like to stroll as well and are often seen strutting around the savanna. I am not sure I managed to see one flying, never mind get a shot of them.
The stripes of a zebra is designed to blend into the stripes of another when seen by a predator from afar. Normally the young are a bit more brown than black but I probably wasn't sure which end was the mother and which was the young until I got home and went through my images.
Depending where you are in the seasonal circle of the great migration there will be a few or many wildebeest visible in the Serengeti. Over two million live on the plains of east Africa, one of the conservation worlds success stories.
There are many things hiding in the long grasses of the Serengeti. When the grasses grow long the servals, mice and other mini creatures have lots of space to hide. Wildebeest on the other hand are everywhere.
What is the young of a Jackal called? Does it matter, he is just a cute looking puppy. Of course a photo doesn't tell the complete story but just before this he was playing with his brothers just like any domestic puppy would.
It is amazing that these creatures, that are build like a tank, would be threatened by anything. However humans have created weapons that easily out gun rhinos. 150 years ago when rifles were weak rhinos were considered one of the stronger animals. Today though we have to look after them as all rhino species are endangered.
Travelling in Africa just makes everything red. It is such a dusty and red continent. The dry season makes this even worse and a herd of zebras can make quite a dust storm.
I am not a fan of going to zoos but sometimes you just have to practice with a new lens before you take it out into the wild. While in Berlin's Tiergarten I met this squirrel who was completely uncaged.
This squirrel in the Alps is quite active during the winter. The local casino puts out bird feed and nuts regularly through the woods to help support the wildlife during the winter months. The squirrels therefore don't need to store up as much food and are active bird table raiders during the cold season.
I met my first bears in Canada by chance. However the thrill of seeing bears in Europe was so much more, knowing how much they are threatened by years of over population. This Slovenian bear was part of a family well known to the locals, who get fed grain regularly to prevent them wandering down into villages.
All I can say is that if I was a bear the number of insects would really annoy me regardless of the thick fur.
Despite our attempts to wreck the world the chamois still survived, and this family does so by coming down tot he empty quarry at night to feed on sparse grasses. However the steep sides of the quarry are not the trap for the chamois that they might be for other creatures. At the first sign of threat the chamois are already halfway up the almost sheer cliff faces.
The animals of the Galapagos Islands really have no fear of humans. As such the young can be very inquisitive around photographers.
The animals of the Galapagos Islands really have no fear of humans. As such the young can be very inquisitive around photographers.
It isn't easy to time whale shots and get their heads in the frame. The tail or flukes are much easier. Also I do think tail shots are a bit more whale like. After all how many of us have seen many whale faces? Tails are what you see all the time when whale watching.
The lilac-breasted roller is one of Africa's iconic birds. It is visible all over when you are on safari. However being such quick fliers and graceful movers, getting a good image is rather difficult sometimes.
Watching weaver birds make their nests is an amazing experience. Watching any craftsman at work is great but the little birds gather so much material to make a complete and complex home all on their own.
The national parks of East Africa generally do not permit getting out of vehicles for the safety of people but there are suitable picnic areas for lunch. Of course the locals who like to eat crumbs are aware of them. This Hildebrandt's Starling wasn't afraid of getting close to people for some easy pickings.
The Ngorongoro Crater is one of the best places in the world to see wildlife. However getting photos isn't easy. They are often just too close to your safari vehicle and the angles are comical. This Hawk was the only good image I managed there. Though seeing lions feed on a wildebeest carcass from just a couple of meters away was worth the lack of photo opportunities.
These two young brown snake eagles got into a fight over a leopard tortoise. I had been watching one alone for quite a while as he struggled to get at the interior of the tortoise's shell. Once he flew up to the tree the second came along to steal dinner.
The drought of the last few years in the Kruger has left a lot of rivers dried up. This woodland kingfisher was captured above one of these dry rivers. At the moment he is reduced to 'diving' for insects rather than fish.
The woodland kingfisher isn't too worried about drought in the Kruger. They have adapted to living in dry areas and often the dry season leaves empty rivers for part of the year. They 'fish' for insects when the rivers are dried up.
This is another shot taking while training at my local wildlife park. I have photographed wild peacocks in India but never managed to get a special photograph of them. However here I just love the pattern made by the feathers. I will work on getting one like this in the wild.
It isn't often that a bird is willing to sit for a photo shoot as long as this guy did. He even added in a few extra poses for us to make things more interesting.
I don't do a lot of editing to my photos. Often just black and white is an 'extreme' edit. However I thought considering the look in B&W and the iconic nature of the birds feet that a selective colour would work for this.
The iconic blue-footed boobies all lined up for me. It was rather lucky really considering I was in a RIB bouncing about in the waves, which doesn't make for easy shots.
Shooting birds in flight is pretty difficult. As they move the background moves in ways determined by the bird and not you. However after following certain birds for long enough you see where they are going and as the gulls kept flying towards the sun I managed to get the sun reflecting nicely in the water below.
This shot might be a bit of a cliché, but the glow of the morning sun coming through the fog on Chiemsee in Bavaria really adds a special atmosphere.
Bird life in the jungles of Costa Rica is amazing. I am a photographer not a twitcher but I was still in thrall of the huge number of species I managed to see.
I was hoping for a photo or two of a hummingbird before going to Costa Rica. Just because the photos look effortlessly good. However I got so many that I now know they take no effort at all.
Hummingbirds are every photographers dream bird to photograph. The scaly feathers stand out so well in a photo and getting one in flight is actually easier than you might imagine as they hover quite a lot instead of flying.
There are so many birds in Costa Rica that photographing them is just a joy. Find a perch and focus on it, a bird will land in no time. In this case it was a flame coloured tanager.
What better reason to go to a cloud forest than to try and get a photo of a hummingbird. This guy was more tricky than most as he didn't hover very long.
